She Who Wandered
by Rae Altaire
Summary: Clara Oswald is stuck on an alien planet without the Doctor, and death is lurking in the shadows. This is why she shouldn't wander off.
1. The Vanishing Act

She Who Wandered

Part 1

The Vanishing Act

* * *

Jacket. Check. Cell phone. Check. Bag. Check. Doctor...

Not check.

Clara Oswald spun around in a circle, searching for her missing alien. Where did he go? He'd been here a few seconds ago, running around the console in his usual frantic manner as he landed the TARDIS. He must have run off right after he'd finished.

"Honestly. You think I wander off." The brunette sighed, throwing her arms in the air with the words. "You wander off more than I ever do!" Clara shouted, the words echoing around the room and down the long hallways. She paused for a moment, hoping for some sort of response. Nothing. He'd was pretty deep in the TARDIS then.

That left her wandering the console room, the companion waiting impatiently for the late timelord. Every minute or so, she would glance towards the wooden doors, biting her lip as she resisted the temptation.

"No. Nope. No. Not happening Clara. I'm waiting. Waiting for the Doctor. Waiting forever apparently."

What could he possibly be doing!? He'd promised her a planet. Actually, he'd promised her one two days ago, then they'd gone to ancient Japan, then future Paris… They really did get distracted a lot. The point was, she'd been waiting for this planet.

Maybe if she just waited outside for him...

What could possibly go wrong?

Chocolate eyes flicked back and forth between the exit and the door leading to the rest of the TARDIS, hoping to see that distinctive chin. Nowhere to be seen.

Time's up.

"You snooze you lose Chin Boy." A few quick strides took her to the door, the woman moving fast to prevent talking herself out of it. Fingers wrapped around the handle, and Clara allowed herself one glance back. Still no Doctor. "Meet you out there."

A quick yank pulled the doors wide open, and the impossible girl hopped outside, the doors gently clicking shit behind her.

When she saw the world before her, Clara immediately groaned.

He'd promised her a beautiful forest. A rain forest that would make the Amazon seem pale in comparison. More colors than the human eye could resister, but not the timelords of course, they could see all the colors. The point was, the Doctor had spent all morning painting her a picture of paradise.

This place was anything but.

It was a forest, her alien friend had gotten that much right at least. It just wasn't beautiful. In fact, it was downright creepy.

No light showed through the canopy hundreds of feet above, the densely packed trees creating a wall of black leaves above her. The trunks were enormous, farther around that ten Claras could wrap her arms, dark and knotted, twisting high into the air. The ground was covered in fog, making it hard to see the dirt underneath, though the small bits she could see were obviously dead.

This planet was about as uninviting as it could get.

Trip to a beautiful planet. Not check.

"Right. Time to leave. Already had quite enough of this planet."

Once she found the Doctor, Clara was going to make him take her to the proper forest.

She spun on her heel, walking back to the time machine. Just as the familiar whooshing noise of an ancient engine started up.

"No no no no!" Clara yelled, scrambling back to the door, her petite body practically slamming against the wood as she shoved the door. It wouldn't budge.

"Open! What are you doing!?"

She hit the door, shoved it, kicked it, and knocked frantically in an attempt to get it open. All while yelling incoherently at both the TARDIS and its pilot.

"Doctor! Doctor I'm outside! Let me back in! Don't leave!"

"DOCTOR!"

It was fading, that blue box, becoming more insubstantial by the moment. Clara could feel it, her hands feeling less wood beneath her fists with every hit.

Then it was gone, leaving its shocked and panicking passenger behind.

The Doctor was gone.

"This is why I shouldn't wander off."


	2. Alone in the Jungle

She Who Wandered

Part 2

Alone in the Jungle

* * *

Whenever her children, students or nanny kids, got lost, Clara taught one simple rule. Stay where you are. Don't move. Don't go looking for everyone else. Just sit tight at your last known location and wait for everyone else to find you. It was a good rule, worked well for students. Worked well for kids.

Clara was trying it now, doing her absolute best not to panic as she waited for the Doctor to come back for her. She'd pulled out her mobile, only to find that there was no service. It was probably connected to the TARDIS.

He had to come back, just as soon as he realized she was gone.

Apparently the rule didn't work for time lord's companions.

Even if he didn't figure out what was wrong right away, there was no reason for it to be more than a few minutes on her end. After all, the Doctor was the one with the time machine. Even if it took him days to figure it out, and there was no way he wouldn't notice her absence after days, he could just return right to the moment he left.

Clara was going to kill him.

Tackle him. Hold him so tight he could barely breathe. Then kill him.

Even in her anger, it was well over an hour until she finally gave up on him. The realization that he wasn't coming was worse than anything on this creepy planet.

Clara was alone.

Alone in the jungle.

And it was getting darker. If that was at all possible. It was the encroaching night that finally convinced Clara that it was time to move. It was as though the shadows were growing, creeping farther towards her. The sight made her skin crawl.

"If you're going to abandon me, you could have at least done it on a paradise planet. Then I could have just sat around on a beach and waited. Then you could have taken your sweet time. But not here. Not on the creepy planet."

For some reason pretending to talk to the Doctor made her feel better, probably because he made her feel safe. This planet wouldn't be scary at all if he was here with her. Her Doctor, there was nothing he couldn't solve.

Clara, on the other hand, wasn't near that smart, though she'd never admit it to him.

"Ok." She began, spinning around with a swoosh of skirt, trying to figure out which direction was the least dangerous looking. Basically, it was a choice of dark, darker, and darkest, so the answer was quite simple.

"Dark it is."

Taking a deep breath, hesitating slightly in the hopes that he would choose this exact moment to arrive and make it though she didn't need to move all, Clara squared her shoulders and walked off in the forest.

Every few steps she looked back, chocolate brown eyes searching desperately for TARDIS blue, and finding only darkness. Even when she couldn't see anymore, her ears still strained to hear that beautiful sound.

But the brunette didn't hear anything, only the sound of her breathing. There was no sound of animals, nor that of leaves rustling in the wind. There was nothing. Only silence and darkness. It was as though Clara was the only living thing on this entire planet.

She was wrong, though the woman didn't know it yet. Had she turned around, Clara would have seen the slightest shift in the shadows, like there was something moving inside.

In the beginning, she tried to keep track of where she was, in an attempt to make sure she could return to the original spot if necessary. But it was hopeless, for soon she was hopelessly lost.

There were trees she was sure she'd seen before, as though she was walking in circles. When she could see the trees anyway, Clara could swear it was getting darker and darker. Before long, fingers were only dim shadows in front of her face.

Clara kept tripping, over rocks and roots, plants and dirt. The ground was uneven, made even worse by the fact that she couldn't even see it. Most of the time, she would catch herself before she fell completely, but sometimes she wasn't as lucky, falling on her knees often enough to rip her tights, palms scraped up in attempts to catch herself.

The worst time, her palm slipped on a rock as she tried to catch herself, causing arms to fly to the side as she fell on her face, flat into the dirt. It took a few minutes before she could move again, her breath completely knocked out of her.

Even then, all she did was push herself up to sit straight on the ground, pulling her legs up to her chest and wrapping her arms around them, using bloody knees as a chin rest.

There was no point in walking anymore, it wouldn't do anything. Clara was hopelessly lost, bruised, bloody, and miserable. The decision was simple, for her at least, sit here until morning, then continue on.

"Doctor. Where are you?"

As if in answer to her question, the whole world went insane. Bright light flooded the area, chasing the shadows away and blinding Clara, the woman yelping and burying her face in her knees, eyes clinched shut.

She was just as blind as before, it just hurt now.

If it was the Doctor, she probably would have forgiven him for the shocking light. But it wasn't the Doctor.

There was no sound of the TARDIS moving, no time lord yelling her name. There was sound, which should have been a relief, but it wasn't the sound she needed to hear.

She could hear the scrape of metal, gears turning, and engines running. And the heat. The heat was unbearable, as though she had just fallen into a desert. Then Clara heard the voices. Voices. That meant... People.

They were the wrong voices, but they gave her hope.

"Clear! Clear! Clear!"

Each time the word was spoken, it was in a different voice. Three people then? Clara raised her head, but she still couldn't see, squinting into the white light.

She was shocked out of her musing when two of the people came up behind her, each one grabbing her behind the arms and forcing her up.

"Hey!" The word burst from her lips, timed with the start of her struggling, made difficult by the fact that she couldn't see them.

They didn't even answer, still yelling at each other as they dragged her along.

"Still clear over here!"

"I don't see any!"

"The count is the same! How about everyone else?"

"It's the same! We're good!"

What were they yelling about? Clara was just as clueless about that as she was for everything else she wanted to know. The Doctor would have known.

Before long, she felt metal beneath her feet, dragged up an incline by her two captors. A ship, Clara realized, they were getting on a ship.

They finally released her, but Clara still didn't move, trying her best to open her eyes and see. She could only manage a squint. The inside of the ship was just as brightly lit as the outside.

What did these people have against darkness anyway?

"Everyone's inside! Get us out of here!"

"No wait! The count! What's the count at?"

There was a moment of hesitation, at which Clara assumed they were counting. She could see vague outlines of people now, all of them looking around as though searching for something. Probably whatever they were counting.

"Zero! Zero! Zero!" The three voices shouted one after another.

"We're clean! Now take off!"

Clara couldn't take it anymore. She was having the day from hell, and this certainly wasn't helping.

"What are you counting!?" She finally shouted, all of her anger, fear, and pure frustration pouring into the words.

They all went dead silent for a moment. It would have reminded her of the jungle outside if it weren't for the rumble of the engines and the slight jolt of the ship as they took off. Once they were airborne, Clara finally got the answer she was looking for.

"The shadows. We're counting the shadows."


	3. Count The Shadows

"We're counting the shadows."

Clara didn't get it. A shadow was a shadow, and there was absolutely no reason for anyone to be counting the things. Much less with the obvious fear that these people had.

The brunette was blinking continuously, trying her best to see in the blinding room. At least this explained why they were trying to burn her eyes. With this much light coming from every direction, there wouldn't be any shadows on this ship. As time passed, the figures started to form before brown eyes, three of them, just like Clara had suspected. Two men. One woman. She could tell from the voices. They were all wearing these enormous looking space suits which had to be unbearably hot, the lights were creating a lot of heat. Even Clara was sweating in her cotton dress.

"You're counting… shadows." She repeated slowly, just to make sure she'd heard it all correctly.

"Yes. Of course we are. If those things got us…" It was one of the men speaking, the one to her left. He was taller than the other two, with a deep, soothing voice. There was a slight release of air as he reached up and undid his helmet, pulling it off to reveal ebony skin and a clean shaven head.

"If those things got us what?" Clara pushed, needing to know how the sentence ended. "You know what, I have a better question. What things are you talking about? Some monster that lives in the shadows I'm guessing?"

The other two had also taken off their helmets. The woman was short, slim, with strawberry blonde hair. She would have been cute, if it weren't for those no nonsense eyes. The final man was the shortest of them all, stocky, his round, inviting face framed by brown hair.

"They don't live in the shadows, they are the shadows." The woman now. Her voice matched her eyes, sharp and quick, speaking as though Clara was some sort of idiot. "Who are you anyway? This is a class four quarantined planet. No one should be here but us. How did you get on the ground? Why did you come here in the first place?"

Quarantined? Oh, she really was going to kill the Doctor.

"I'm Clara. Clara Oswald. And I had no idea it was quarantined, to be honest. And you lot are?"

They all stared at her in shock. "I'm Aly. This is Carson," a swift jerk of her head indicated the tall man, "and Andrew," another jerk in the opposite direction.

After the introductions, Clara jumped right back in, continuing her questions without giving them time to ask their own. It was a trick she'd learned from the Doctor. It probably wouldn't be as effective when she tried it, but she was trying anyway. "You also really need to explain what the problem with shadows is, because I don't get it." The brunette kept pressing the point, she couldn't help it. These people seemed so afraid of the shadows, but they didn't bother to explain why. It reminded her of the Doctor in a way, just assuming she'd understand.

But the Doctor wasn't here, and Clara was still confused.

"The Vashta Nerada. The dust in moonbeams. The shadows that eat people." Carson said softly. Clara thought he was joking, but no one was laughing.

"The shadows that… eat people?" She repeated quietly. Maybe if she said it out loud, it would be possible to wrap her brain around the idea. It wasn't.

"Yes." Aly said curtly. "Now that you understand, would you mind telling us how you got here? If there's a way off this planet…" She trailed off. Aly and Carson's faces remained expressionless, but Andrew gave it away, hope blossoming in his eyes.

"Quarantine. You're trapped here aren't you?"

There was no need for any of them to answer, Clara could read all the answers she needed from Andrew. That round face certainly was expressive. He wasn't going to answer her, gaze flirting back and forth from Clara to the other two, waiting for some direction from them. After a moment, Clara's eyes followed his.

What she saw there chilled her to the bone. Clara still wasn't sure what was going on, but she had seen the other's reactions enough to have a new fear of the shadows. Wide brown eyes locked on Aly.

"What happens if there's a shadow in here?"

Everyone froze, two more sets of eyes locking on the woman, who had gone pale as a sheet. But they weren't looking at her, not really. They were looking at her shadow, that impossible shadow. It looked so wrong, Clara couldn't believe they hadn't noticed it sooner. There was so much light in this room, coming equally from every direction, that a shadow should have been impossible. There was no darkness allowed in this room. But somehow there was, a small pool of black at the edges of Aly's feet. Unlike a normal shadow, it didn't somewhat mimic the lines of her body, rather forming a shapeless mass behind her. And it was moving, even though Aly stood completely still, a tear falling unnoticed down her cheek.

"Oh God." The words were barely a whisper, the voice of a woman who knew she was dead, and could do nothing but wait for it to happen.

"Don't move." Carson whispered.

Don't move. Who was he kidding? He was talking to Aly, but Clara wasn't even thinking about moving. She was barely breathing. The shadows that eat people, he'd said. But it was just a shadow, formed wrong yes, but not eating anyone. They hadn't even known it was there, so obviously it wasn't the flesh eating type of shadow.

Clara almost managed to convince herself that it was true.

Carson took a deep breath. "We need to go. Sanitize the room." His eyes never left Aly, but somehow his voice was still calm. "Andrew. Clara. Move towards the door." Andrew started moving without hesitation. Clara was more reluctant.

"We can't just leave her! It's not even doing anything. Maybe we can… I don't know, get it off or something. You can't just give up!" That Doctor had taught her that much. Never give up, not even when everything was lost. The time lord always managed to turn everything around. Always found a solution. Always managed to save the day. He would never just run away. Clara wasn't going to either.

"Y-y-you c-can't s-s-s-save m-me." Her voice was shaking, barely managing to force the words out. The change in Aly was shocking. Clara barely knew her, but she had been so in control a few minutes ago. Before the shadow had appeared. She had been so strong, but now it was like the fight had gone right out of her.

"Go to the next room Clara Oswald. Now." The order was sharper this time. Andrew had already vanished, but Clara stubbornly held her ground.

"No! We have to find some way to save her! I don't even know her, and I'm fighting harder than you lot are! We can find some way to get that bloody shadow thing to let…"

The impassioned words were cut off by a blood curtailing scream, which cut off almost as quickly as it started. Then the only sound was the soft ripple of fabric and the clatter of bones falling to the floor, landing in the middle of the pool of black. The shadow was rippling, somehow bigger than before, inky tendrils around the skull of what had just been a living, breathing woman.

"H-How…"

Clara wasn't able to get any more words out, the breath pushed out of her as Carson came barreling into her, the tall man picking up the petite woman without breaking his stride and forcing her into the next room, sealing the door shut behind them.


End file.
